


Blue Christmas

by ThatRavenclawBitch



Series: 25 Days of Ficlets [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: 25 Days of Ficlets, Christmas Fluff, F/F, Holiday, holiday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-06 09:18:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16829683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatRavenclawBitch/pseuds/ThatRavenclawBitch
Summary: From my 25 Days of Ficlets prompts on tumblr. The prompt was “You got me a Christmas present?”.





	1. Chapter 1

Christmas was blue, and not just because of the Elvis song.

Tilly had good days and not good days year round, but for some reason the not good days seemed to come closer together at this time of year. It was cold for one, even wetter than usual but not snowy like a Christmas card or a Hallmark movie. Just wet. And for some reason the lights on the buildings and the trees in the stores didn’t fill Tilly with Christmas spirit. It just reminded her that she was alone, without any family to call her own.

Things were looking up for her this year though. She had a real apartment to sleep in, instead of the frigid boxcar she used to live in. Detective Rogers kept the pantry stocked and the heating bill paid so she couldn’t much complain there. She had a job she enjoyed, helping out Sabine with her food truck. It was honest work, no more skirting the cops for fencing watches and having to beg Weaver to cover for her. And best of all, well, best of all was Margot.

She wasn’t sure how someone as pretty and smart and amazing as Margot had ever looked her way, had ever even wanted to be her friend in the first place, but she was counting her blessings this Christmas season, that was for certain.

It didn’t mean the not good days went away though, and she’d had a bad stretch of them the past week, her head going all fuzzy and making things confusing and scary.

Today though, today was a good day, she was sure of it. It was Christmas Eve and Margot had asked her to come by Roni’s. They were closing up early for the holiday and she’d be off by 6:00 so Tilly meandered over at 5:30 to flirt with the bartender and get a cup of Christmas cheer.

When she entered, Margot was wiping down the bar, empty but for Weaver at one end miserably nursing a glass of scotch on his own. She knew Weaver didn’t much like this time of year either. Christmas sucked when you were all on your own.

She waved at him and he raised his glass in salute before downing the rest of it. Then he dropped a few crumpled bills on the bar and left. Tilly watched him go, hoping he had somewhere worth being tonight and didn’t just head back to work. She didn’t hold out much hope though.

“Hey,” Margot said, greeting her with a brilliant smile. All thoughts of Weaver fled from Tilly’s mind, her thoughts now occupied with how someone so wonderful could ever look so happy to see her. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too,” Tilly said, returning her smile with a sappy one of her own. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you too,” Margot said. She folded up the bar towel she was using, dropping it on the counter behind her before turning back to Tilly.

“I got you something,” she said with an enigmatic smile before pulling a small box wrapped in shiny red paper from beneath the bar. She placed it in front of Tilly who stared down at it, her breath catching in her chest.

“You got me a Christmas present?” she asked, her question full of awe.

“Well, yeah,” Margot said with a shrug. “Why wouldn’t I?”

She’d never received a Christmas present before, not that she could remember anyway. Her memory wasn’t always great, but she thought she’d remember that. Weaver had given her a sandwich on Christmas Eve last year, but she didn’t think that counted. He gave her sandwiches loads of times when it wasn’t Christmas.

“I love it!” Tilly declared, still just staring down at the shiny paper.

Margot chuckled. “You haven’t even opened it yet.”

“But I know I’ll love it,” Tilly protested, her eyes stinging from the tears that wanted to fall. Happy tears for once. “Because it’s from you and you know me better than anyone in the world. I know it’s just perfect.”

Margot bit her lip, blushing a little. “Well now I’m nervous you won’t like it.”

“Not possible,” Tilly said with a shake of her head.

Without any further protestation she picked up the present, slipping her finger under a fold in the red wrapping paper and pulling it open. She’d never unwrapped a present before. No one had ever given her something that was gift-wrapped and she relished it, taking her time and making sure not to tear the paper. Beneath the shiny red paper was a simple white box and Tilly slipped the lid off, setting it to the side. Inside was a bracelet, a simple leather band linked together by a silver charm of a running rabbit.

“Margot,” she said, “it’s beautiful!”

Margot smiled, reaching in to the box to pick up the bracelet. “It reminded me of you,” she said. “The little rabbit. Beautiful and strong. Holding the whole thing together.”

“And running,” Tilly said, tracing a finger over the delicate silver charm.

“But not running away,” Margot said with a shake of her head. “I think it’s running toward something.”

“Yeah?” Tilly asked, looking up into Margot’s green eyes.

“Yeah,” Margot said. “And whatever it is the little rabbit is running to, it’s gonna be amazing.”

Tilly braced her hands on the bar, pushing herself up over it to plant a kiss on Margot’s lips.

“Thank you,” she said once they’d broken away. “This is without a doubt the best Christmas present I’ve ever got.”

Margot smiled, pushing a lock of blonde hair out of Tilly’s eyes, her hand lingering against her cheek.

“Don’t thank me too much yet,” she said. “I also want to ask you to dinner at my mom’s tomorrow night. She’s cooking and…she’s not the greatest cook in the world but she’s so determined to do it, we can’t stop her.”

Tilly laughed. She couldn’t imagine disliking a real Christmas dinner even if Margot’s mum burned the entire thing.

“I would love to come to dinner,” she said.

“You say that now,” Margot said with a pointed look. “But it won’t be all bad. Roni will be there and you can definitely bring Rogers if he’s free.”

Tilly bit her lip, those happy tears threatening to fall once again. She wasn’t alone this year and maybe, just maybe, she’d never have to be alone again. Christmas was still blue, but instead of a dark, stormy blue it was calm and peaceful. Christmas was cerulean. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tilly is certain she's messed up Margot's Christmas dinner. From the prompt “I just kept pouring brandy in it. Seemed like a good idea”
> 
> (For the purposes of this fic we're pretending Rogers isn't a recovering alcoholic)

It was becoming increasingly apparent that everyone was drunk.

She hadn’t meant to do this. She’d never been invited to Christmas dinner before but in movies people always brought an offering of some kind. She’d googled what to bring to a Christmas party and the top result had been eggnog. Perhaps she’d messed up the recipe somehow, but everyone had told her it was delicious.

Margot had stepped out half an hour ago, nipping out into the cold to look for any shops that might be open and have some sort of food at the ready. As promised, Kelly had completely destroyed the Christmas dinner beyond any edibility.

So, to bide the time and keep spirits up, Kelly had pulled out Tilly’s eggnog.

Since then things had progressed from fairly normal to downright silly. Kelly was doing an odd dance in front of the Christmas tree while singing songs from Wicked. Roni was telling increasingly raunchy stories about the summer she followed Whitesnake on tour. Rogers was slumped over on the sofa, clutching his side in a fit of giggles. Henry Mills, who had come with Roni, was in the kitchen drunk dialing Jacinda Vidrio.

“What the hell happened here?” Margot asked as she came in to the apartment, her arms laden with bags of takeout from the Chinese place down the street. “Everything was fine when I left.”

“Your mum decided to break out the eggnog,” Tilly said, brandishing a cup in her direction. “It’s a little strong.”

Margot set the takeout down on the dining table and took the cup from her, taking a sip and wincing. “Holy hell that is strong! Who made this?”

Tilly raised her hand guiltily.

“What did you put in it?”

“I’d never made eggnog before!” she exclaimed, defensively. “I wasn’t sure how much alcohol to put in so I just did two.”

“Two what?” Margot asked. “Cups?”

“Bottles.”

Margot glanced at the last dregs of eggnog in the nearly empty punch bowl. “You’re telling me four people drank two whole bottles of liquor?”

“I didn’t know what I was doing, alright! I just kept pouring brandy in it,” Tilly said with a shrug. “It seemed like a good idea.”

Margot stared at her for a moment before she broke in to a laugh.

“Well, this is certainly a Christmas to remember. For us, I mean,” she motioned at the other guests. Kelly had tripped over the ottoman and landed face first on the floor while Roni doubled over with laughter. Rogers tried to pull her up off the ground and had only ended up on the floor next to her. “I’m pretty sure none of them will remember a thing.”

“I’m sorry,” Tilly said with a shake of her head. “I wanted this Christmas to be perfect and instead I’ve made a mess.”

“It’s not a mess,” Margot assured her, dropping a kiss on her nose. “It’s just Christmas.”

Tilly still wasn’t sure, certain she’d ruined the first real Christmas she’d ever been a part of.

“I’m gonna get a pot of coffee going,” Margot said with a shake of her head. “Can you go pull some blankets and pillows out of the hall closet? No one should be driving home like this.”

“A Christmas slumber party,” Tilly said. She liked the sound of that.

Margot reached for her hand, giving it a little squeeze.

“You can sleep in my room,” she said with a wink.

And with that promise, Tilly rushed off to find the makings of a truly epic blanket fort.


End file.
